שבועות א

And behold, the matter of these two perceptions — daray ma'alah and daray matah — are the aspect of the generality of the entire Torah. For the primary Torah is the da'as [knowledge] of Hashem. And the primary da'as — that is, to know Hashem, blessed be He — is the two aforementioned aspects: the aspect of Ayay etc. and the aspect of "the whole earth is full of His glory." And this is the generality of knowing Him, blessed be He, as it were.

And therefore the Torah, which is the primary da'as, is comprised of these two aspects. And therefore the Torah begins with B'raishis and concludes with "l'einai kol Yisrael" [before the eyes of all Israel]. "B'raishis" — this is the aspect of ma'amar sasum [the sealed utterance], which is the aspect of Ayay, the aspect of Keser, as is explained elsewhere (in Likutay Tinyana, Torah 12). And this is the aspect of the perception of daray ma'alah, as mentioned above. "L'einai kol Yisrael" — this is the aspect of "the whole earth is full of His glory," as it is written, "And for all the mighty hand and for all the great awesomeness that Moshe performed before the eyes of all Israel" (Deuteronomy 34:12) — which is the aspect of "the whole earth is full of His glory." For through the mighty hand — that is, the signs and wonders that Moshe performed — it was revealed that Hashem rules in the land, the aspect of "the whole earth is full of His glory."

And this is the aspect of "before the eyes of all Israel" — that His G-dliness, blessed be He, was revealed, as it were, before the eyes of all, the aspect of "the whole earth is full of His glory" — which is the aspect of the perception of daray matah. It turns out that the Torah is comprised of both aforementioned aspects.

And this is the aspect of Torah shebichsav and Torah sheb'al peh, which are the aspect of day and night, the aspect of aspaklaria hame'irah and aspaklaria she'einah me'irah, which are the aspect of daray ma'alah and daray matah, as mentioned above. For Torah shebichsav is the aspect of yamin, the aspect of day, the aspect of aspaklaria hame'irah, the aspect of shamayim [heaven] — which is the aspect of daray ma'alah, the aspect of Ayay. And Torah sheb'al peh is the aspect of s'mol, the aspect of night, the aspect of aspaklaria she'einah me'irah, the aspect of daray matah, the aspect of eretz [earth], the aspect of "the whole earth is full of His glory." And therefore for Torah sheb'al peh it is forbidden to receive payment. For the primary learning of Torah sheb'al peh is to reveal the da'as, to know that "the whole earth is full of His glory." And when one wants to receive payment and sets one's eyes on money, then one falls into k'silus [foolishness] — for the primary k'silus comes through the desire for money, as is explained in the words of Rabbeinu of blessed memory elsewhere (Torah 69). And then the da'as departs and the light is hidden, and one does not merit knowing that "the whole earth is full of His glory." But for Torah shebichsav, which is the aspect of the perception of daray ma'alah, the aspect of "Ayay — where is the place of His glory" — it is permitted to receive payment. For there, in the upper aspect, the aspect of Ayay, the klipos and the sitra achra have no hold whatsoever. And one who merits this perception — the sitra achra cannot take hold there at all. For it is brought in the words of Rabbeinu of blessed memory that the sustenance and vitality of the sitra achra is from the aspect of Ayay, which is the aspect of ma'amar sasum — that is, from the greatness of the concealment and hiddenness. Because this aspect is hidden and concealed in the utmost concealment, therefore from there is their vitality. But one who merits this perception of the aspect of Ayay — who knows of this concealment and merits attaining this perception of the aspect of Ayay, which is the ultimate of knowledge (tachlis hayedi'ah) — then the sitra achra and the klipos are nullified in the utmost nullification. For their primary sustenance is from the hiddenness and concealment of this aspect — because we do not have the power to attain this perception. Therefore they draw sustenance from there, G-d forbid, and intensify in k'firos [denials/heresies], G-d forbid, through the concealment and hiddenness of this aspect. And therefore in this world — the aspect of daray matah — one must illuminate the aspect of "the whole earth is full of His glory" specifically, to reveal His Kingship, blessed be He. For the aspect of Ayay is impossible for daray matah to attain. And on the contrary, from this aspect they draw sustenance through the greatness of the concealment, and they introduce k'firos, G-d forbid. And therefore for Torah sheb'al peh it is forbidden to receive payment. For through the payment and money that one receives for Torah sheb'al peh, they are able to take hold, G-d forbid — for their primary hold is in money, where is the hold of all avodah zarah and k'firos, as Rabbeinu of blessed memory wrote elsewhere (Torah 23). And then through this they can completely hide the light, and one will not merit this da'as of the aspect of "the whole earth is full of His glory" — through their concealing the light, G-d forbid. But for Torah shebichsav, which is the aspect of Ayay, it is permitted to receive payment. For there they have no hold whatsoever — for their primary sustenance is only from this aspect, from the aspect of Ayay — that is, the aspect of the hiddenness and concealment of this aspect. But one who merits this perception in kedushah, in the aspect of "the ultimate of knowledge is that we do not know (tachlis hayedi'ah asher lo neida)" — and since he knows the concealment, therefore they have no hold any longer. And therefore it is permitted to receive payment for the perception of the aspect of Ayay, which is the aspect of Torah shebichsav — for there they have no hold, as mentioned above. And this is what our Sages of blessed memory said: that it is permitted to receive payment for Torah shebichsav, for it is payment for pisuk te'amim. "Payment for pisuk te'amim" specifically — for the te'amim are an exceedingly exalted light that is impossible to attain, which is the aspect of Ayay, as is brought in the Writings [of the Ari z"l]. And therefore it is permitted to receive payment — for there they have no hold, as mentioned above. For the vitality of the sitra achra is only from the concealment and hiddenness of the aspect of Ayay, as mentioned above. But one who attains this perception — which is the aspect of pisuk te'amim, as mentioned above — then they have no vitality at all and are completely nullified. And therefore, even when one receives payment for this learning, they cannot take hold in it, G-d forbid. For there, in this perception, they have no power to take hold, G-d forbid. On the contrary, through this perception of the aspect of Ayay, the aspect of te'amim, they are completely nullified, as mentioned above. And understand this well, for it is impossible to explain these matters in writing. Baruch Hashem l'olam, Amen v'Amen. Talmud Torah 1 (LM I:12, I:35): Torah shebichsav = day/yamin/lishmah. Torah sheb'al peh = night/s'mol/shelo lishmah. Forbidden to teach TSBP for fee because: teaching children = sheinah (sleep/mochin d'katnus) → renewal of mind. But if for money → suspisa d'dahava (dross) = muddying of mind (opposite of renewal). TSBK: permitted for fee because yamin/lishmah realm → shelo lishmah doesn't intensify. Moreover, slight p'niyah needed to draw shefa ("bism'olah osher v'chavod"). Payment is for pisuk te'amim = highest level (te'amim/nekudos/tagin/osiyos) = "kulo tov" = "to'ameha chayim zachu." "Ta'amu ur'u ki tov Hashem." Talmud Torah 2 (LM II:7): Two perceptions: daray ma'alah ("Ayay") and daray matah ("m'lo kol ha'aretz kevodo") = entirety of Torah = da'as Hashem. Torah begins B'raishis (= ma'amar sasum = Ayay = Keser) and ends "l'einai kol Yisrael" (= m'lo kol ha'aretz kevodo). TSBK = yamin/day/aspaklaria hame'irah/shamayim = daray ma'alah = Ayay. TSBP = s'mol/night/aspaklaria she'einah me'irah/eretz = daray matah = m'lo kol ha'aretz kevodo. Forbidden to take payment for TSBP because: money → k'silus (LM 69) → da'as departs → can't know "m'lo kol ha'aretz kevodo." Sitra achra sustains from Ayay's concealment; but one who attains Ayay in kedushah (tachlis hayedi'ah asher lo neida) → SA completely nullified. In this world (daray matah) must illuminate "m'lo kol ha'aretz" specifically. Payment for TSBK (= Ayay) permitted because SA has no hold there. Payment = s'char pisuk te'amim = te'amim = highest light = Ayay → SA nullified entirely.